Method of washing venetian blinds



May 7, 1940. R. G. LONG ET AL METHOD OF WASHING V ENETIAN BLINDS Filed Oct. 3, 1958 SSheets-Sheet l 5 R. Y m H m WW in ION. A in M 92w MAW AR Mm Z w B M817, 1940- Y R. G. LONG ET AL 2.199.7 7

METHOD OF WASHING VENETIAN BLINDS- Filed Oct. 3, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

R/CHARD. G. L o/ve B WALTER 0. F/FE/VCH wyczfl w 772 ATTORN YS.

May 7, 1940- R. G. LONG ET AL 9.747

METHOD OF WASHING VENETIAN BLINDS Filed Oct. 5, 1938 a Sheets- Sheet s 2/ r K5 i i 49 ,6a 555 A5 3 -35 A 1 I IN VENTOR. RI CHA R0 6. I. 0N6 Q,

WALTER 0- FRENCH ATTORNEYS.

whgawa a w Patented May 7, 1940 1' I v UNITED STATES PATENTQFFICE i; V! :METHOD OF WASHING VENETIAN BLINDS Richard G. Long and Walter D. French, Denver, 0010., assignors of one-fourth to Arthur H. Bosworth and one-fourth to Robert B. McGaughey, both of Denver, Colo.

Application October 3, 1938, Serial No. 233,042

6 Claims. (Cl. 15-269) This invention relates to an improved method for washing venetian blinds or the like.

As is well known, the so-called venetian type blind is normally constructed of a plurality of rotatable and reversible slats that can be positioned in open spaced relationship or closed in overlapping contact. When these slats become soiled in use from dust, smoke, finger marks, and like foreign matter, it is a difficult and tedious task to wash them by the usual hand method.

Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a new and improved method for thoroughly washing such blinds, whereby an operator may use mechanical force to speed up and improve the quality of the work.

A further object is to provide such a method that can be very economically used for the stated objectives, because most of the cleaning fluids can be collected for reuse.

Still another objectis to provide, in such a method, means for rapidly drying the washed blinds.

Other objects and advantages reside in details of design and construction which will be more fully disclosed in the following description and in the drawings wherein like parts have been similarly designated and in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of apparatus built according to this invention and that is well adapted to perform the improved method;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken approximately along the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 33 of Figure 2 and drawn to a larger scale;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view on a larger scale, showing certain details of construction;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary plan view looking in the direction of arrow 5 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a. sectional view along line 6-45 of *Figure 5, and drawn to a larger scale;

Figures '7 and 8 are fragmentary views on lines 1-| and 88 respectively, of Figure 1, and

drawn on a larger scale; and

Figure 9 is a fragmentary view showing certain details.

. In the drawings, to illustrate an embodiment of the invention in a typical apparatus that is well suited to perform this improved method of washing venetian blinds, reference character l5 denotes an undercut channel track, preferably, but not necessarily, made endless as in Figure 1. The track may be suitably supported by structure I6 and adjacent the track are spaced sprayers l1 and it. Each sprayer can be conveniently made up of pipe and fittings, assembled in the form of a rectangular loop vertically positioned around the track. The upstanding sections of the pipe are provided with spray apertures facing oppo- 5 sitely toward the center of the respective assembles, to project cleaning and washing fluid onto opposite sides of a blind l9 that is suspended in a frame 20 that is hung on rollers 2| in the undercut channel of said track l5. 10

The frame 20 and its suspended blind l9 can be moved along the track l5 and through the sprayers I1 and 18, by means of a cord 22 removably attached thereto, and reeved over pulleys 23. v 1

Between the sprayers I1 and I8,- is positioned a mechanical scrubber that comprises two oppositely positioned brushes 24, that are mounted for reciprocation in contact with opposite surfaces of the blind, on crankshafts 25' and 26, the latter 20 one of which is rotated by any suitable driver,

such as a motor 21.

A motor 28 is in driving connection with a pump 29 that is connected to deliver a forceful spray of fluid cleaning medium from a tank 30, 25 through a pipe line 3| to sprayer I1, from which it is projected, and another motor 32, drives another pump 33 to deliver a flow of rinsing fluid from a tank 34 through a conduit 35 for projection from the sprayer l8. An operator can 30 selectively operate the respective motors by means of a two-way switch 36. A three-way valve 31 is connected to receive drainage from the sprayers and is selectively operable by means of a lever 38 to return drainage fluid to either the tank 30 or the tank 34, as desired.

Spray apertures 39 are provided in sprayer I8 and other discharge apertures are provided in sprayer II, that are partially shielded by spreaders 40 to effect a fan-like discharge, as illustrated 40 in Figures 7 and 8.

In Figures 4, 5 and 6, certain optional details are illustrated wherein reference character 4| denotes the individual reversible slats in the blind l9, that are reversible by the usual means 45 inclusive of. a cord 42 and a pulley operated thereby at 43. A bracket 44 is mounted on the side member 45 of the frame 20 and supports a plurality of pulleys or rollers 46 over which the cord 42 is reeved, and a bracket 41 on angle 50 crossmembers, 48 of the frame 20, journals a two-groove pulley 49 at 50.

Opposite ends of the cord 42 are temporarily attached to the pulley 49 as by passing them through openings 5| to be releasably gripped by 55 .moved through sprayer H.

The position of the rack may be controlled-by an operator from his station at 60, by means of a hand wheel H on a shaft 62 journalled in bearings 63 along the track, to turn a worm gear 64 journalled at 65 to turn a screw 86 that is in threaded engagement with the rack 56, whereby it is laterally moved.

The cord 22 that is used for moving the frame and blind along the track, is attachable to the frame by a hook t1 engageable in a plate 68.

Bumpers 69 may be provided on both sides of each frame 20 so that when, as preferred, a plurality of frames are used, they will contact each other by means of said bumpers to transmit movement from one to the next along the track IS. A heated drying station preferably is positioned along the track at I0, and may be heated to a super-atmospheric temperature .by well known means such as steam pipes, electric heaters or the like.

\. Operation In use, a soiled venetian blind is suspended in the frame 20, which is movable along the track It and which is guided along its lower edge by a guide rail 20a. Pump 29 is started to project fanlike sprays of cleaning fluid from tank 30 simultaneously onto both sides of the blind as it is The brushing and scrubbing'mechanism is driven to effect a scrubbing action on the blind, after it is thoroughly sprayed with the cleaning medium, to further loosen the dirt on the blind. During the first spraying step, the three-way valve 31 is set to return most of the sprayed fluid to the tank 30, from which it came, screens 80 being removably set up to prevent unnecessary dissipation of the fluid, which runs to the center of the enclosed area and down through a. drain 8| to the valve.

Next, the operator starts the second pump 33 to project sprays of rinse water or other washing fluid from sprayer it onto the scrubbed surfaces of the blind as it progresses along the track IS. The fluid cleaning and/or washing mediums may be used at atmospheric or at super-atmospheric temperatures, and the second sprayed fluid may also be returned to its storage tank 34 for reuse, or sent to waste as desired, depending upon its value. Elongated apertures 39a, Figure 9, may

-advantageously be provided in either sprayer to effect a knife-like jet projection of cleaning or rinsing fluid, particularly the latter.

Since the slats 4| of the blind overlap, they must be reversed and the: same operations repeated, to clean all parts of their surfaces. This reversing of the slats can be done by hand but, preferably it is accomplished by the mechanism illustrated in Figures 4, 5 and 6 and hereinabove described. The rack 56 is positioned as desired along the track l5 to engage the gear 55 to rotate the pulley 49 and thereby operate the reversing mechanism of the blind at a predetermined position along the track, as suggested at 56, Figure 2.

A complete second station for effecting the washing of a reversed blind can be set up beyond the rack 60 to repeat the washing process on the reversed slats, or the blind can be reversed by moving it past the rack and then retracting the rack out of alinement with the gear 58, whereupon the blind can be moved back along the track into the first cleaning station 80, with its slats reversed, for a repetition of the said cleaning steps.

After a blind is cleaned, reversed and flnally flnished, its frame is'unhooked from cord 22 and another frame, with another blind, is hooked to the cord and the above set forth method of cleaning is repeated. As the frames 20 move along the track, they contact each other by bumpers 89 and are thus moved along the track and through the drying station 10. The drying station'may be omitted if preferred, as the blinds will air-dry under some conditions, especially if heated rinse water is used.

A plurality of racks 56 can be placed along the track ii to effect reversal of the slats 4| as desired, one complete reversal mechanism having been disclosed, it is considered sufficient for patent purposes. Naturally, the size of any installation will depend upon local conditions, and by reciprocating a blind through only one cleaning station, less space willbe required.

Since the automatic reversing mechanism is an optional feature of the apparatus, it has'not been illustrated in detail in Figures 1 and 2, but a location for the reversing rack 56 is suggested in Figure 2, which may or may not be associated with" the retracting mechanism above set forth. If a second washing station is used along the track beyond the rack, the rack need not be retracted nor the blind reciprocated back through the first washing stage.

The combined effects of suspending a'blind, the forceful impingement of the sprays on the blind, the mechanical scrubbing action, the reversal of the slats either automatically or by hand, and the movement of the blind along the track, are well adapted to accomplish the stated objectives.

While this specification discloses preferred means for reducing the present invention to practice and a preferred embodiment of the invention, changes may occur to those skilled in the art and may be made within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The method of washing venetian blinds having reversible slats, that comprises suspending a blind for movement along a predetermined path, with .the slats in substantially overlapping relationship, moving a suspended blind through a forcefully projected spray of cleansing fluid, subjecting surfaces of the blind to a scrubbing action, reversing the slats of the blind about their respective longitudinal axes, repeating the scrubbing action, and then impinging rinsing fluid on the scrubbed surfaces.

2. The method of washing venetian blinds or the like, inclusive of reversible slats, that comprises suspending a blind for movement along a predetermined path, with the slats in substantially overlapping relationship, moving the suspended biind through a forcefully projected spray of cleansing fluid, simultaneously subjecting surfaces on opposite sides of the blind to a scrubbing action, reversing the "slats about their respective longitudinal axes, repeating the scrubbing action, and then impinging rinsing fluid on said surfaces,

' in opposite directions.

3. The method of washing venetian blinds or.

the like having reversible slats, that comprises projecting a spray of cleansing fluid onto the blind, with the slats in substantially overlapping relationship, subjecting sprayed surfaces of the blind to a scrubbing action, reversing the slats about their respective longitudinalaxes, repeating the scrubbing action, and impinging rinsing fluid on the scrubbed surfaces.

4. The method of washing venetian blinds or the like having reversible slats, that comprises applying cleansingfluid to surfaces of the blind, with the slats in substantially overlapping relationship, subjecting such surfaces to a scrubbing action, reversing the slats about their respective longitudinal axes, repeating the scrubbing action, and impinging rinsing fluid on the scrubbed surfaces.

5. The method of washing venetian blinds or the like having reversible slats, that comprises projecting a spray o! cleansing fluid onto the blind with the slats thereof in substantially overlapping relationship, reversing the slats along their longitudinal axes, and repeating the projection of the cleansing fluid onto the blind.

6. The method of washing venetian blinds or the like having reversible slats, that comprises scrubbing the surfaces of the blind while the slats are in substantially overlapping relationship, reversing the slats along their longitudinal axes, repeating the scrubbing action, and then impinging rinsing fluid onto the scrubbed surfaces.

RICHARD G. LONG. WAL'IER D. FRENCH. 

